Tsarist secret police. From archers to Cossacks

Chapter Six Rebelliousness and the Secret Service Escape of Convicts A few days after digging a tunnel under the Tagansky prison was stopped, a stranger came to Isidor Morchadze, who called himself Vasily Kalashnikov, and brought a letter from Elizabeth Mathieu, who was sitting

Soso, Kamo, Koba ... For the days that disappeared in vain, For the stupid years, We, in essence, still do not understand what the word "never" means ... Katso The years of childhood never return! They come to us only in two looking-glass forms - in dreams or memories. But they, together with

The first security department, which was engaged in the maintenance of order and tranquility in the city on the Neva, was opened in 1866 in connection with the more frequent attempts on the life of Tsar Alexander II. This institution did not yet have independence, since the St. Petersburg mayor was involved in its creation, and it was opened under his office. The second security department was not needed so soon, it appeared in Moscow in 1880 under the auspices of the Moscow police chief. But this idea belonged to the Minister of Internal Affairs M. T. Loris-Melikov. The third security department was opened in Warsaw in 1900 (at that time Poland was part of the Russian Empire).

Activity

The revolutionary movement was growing in Russia, therefore the field of activity was wide, and the work of the very first security departments was more than successful. Terrorism gained momentum, assassination attempts on prominent figures of the country became more frequent, and from time to time they were also successful. In the provinces, the gendarme departments worked poorly, and the authorities increasingly thought about how to improve the political investigation, to make it flexible and organized. In all large cities, undesirable demonstrations of student youth and workers constantly took place, peasant riots occurred quite often.

Therefore, the number of so-called search points increased, each big city had its own security department. The Russian Empire needed a lot of them. Already in 1902, detective institutions began to work in Yekaterinoslav, Vilno, Kiev, Kazan, Saratov, Odessa, Kharkov, Tiflis, Nizhny Novgorod. It was they who carried out political investigations, conducted external surveillance, directed secret agents and recruited new agents. The Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Pleve created a Regulation on the heads of such departments, where the above duties were specifically spelled out.

"Set of rules"

In the same 1902, a special "manual" - "Code of Rules" was circulated, from where the heads of the departments obtained information about the main tasks that each security department of the Russian Empire should perform, and brought this information to each subordinate. The networks of secret agents engaged in political affairs were rapidly being built, spy surveillance was also being established, and internal agents were recruited. The security department recruited employees according to many criteria.

They were not easy. They were obliged to know perfectly everything about the history of the revolutionary movement, to learn by heart the names of the leaders of each party that opposed the government, to follow the illegal literature that the revolutionaries established, no matter what. The head of the security department was responsible for all of the above. And the gendarmes were charged with educating their agents in this regard, so that all secret officers developed a conscious attitude to the matter. The chiefs were directly subordinate to the Police Department, where they received all the general directions of activity, and even the personnel of the security department of the gendarmes were in charge of the department.

Organization of an agent network

The network of new branches was opened on the initiative of a great enthusiast in his field, the head of the Moscow security department since 1896 S.V. Zubatov. However, he retired in 1903, and his plans were never fully realized. The careerism that prevailed in this structure intensified the rivalry among the provincial gendarme managers.

Despite the fact that the department constantly called on the security departments to exchange information and mutual assistance, this matter almost did not move. Each chief in his city was "a king and a god." That is why conflict situations arose that did not go for the future of the common cause. And yet, every year, far from one security department was opened, the creation of gendarme organs grew ever wider, and by the end of 1907 there were already twenty-seven of them functioning in the country.

New rules

In the same 1907, the current Regulations regarding the tsarist security department were significantly supplemented and approved by Stolypin. The document includes new clauses regarding relationships and information exchange within the structure.

Political and gendarme authorities, when receiving information that belong to the scope of the security departments, had to transfer them for the development of cases, arrests, searches, seizures and other things that could not be done without the head of the security department.

Security points

But even from the "secret police" information had to come to the gendarme administration, so that there they could compare the circumstances obtained in the process of inquests. However, twenty-seven departments were clearly not enough to control the literally boiling public, and therefore, already in 1907, small security posts began to open everywhere.

They were created not in the centers, but in those areas where the fighting sentiment among the population grew up. In almost all cities, such centers were established over the next two years. They were the first to open in Penza, Khabarovsk, Vladikavkaz, Gomel, Zhitomir, Yekaterinodar, Poltava, Kostroma, Kursk, and then in dozens of other cities.

Tasks

The district security departments were faced with numerous and sometimes difficult tasks. In addition to organizing internal agents, which were supposed to "develop" local party organizations, in addition to the search, countless officers' conferences were held on the territory of the region, separating people from the main business - the search and surveillance itself. The number of papers they wrote was enormous, as information was sent everywhere.

The higher search institutions were periodically thoroughly reported on every movement of local revolutionaries, and it was also supposed (now according to official circulars) to help in every possible way the same institutions of neighboring regions. The plus was that there were many times more intelligence materials, and this helped the investigation, since every investigator could use them. When necessary, even secret agents became known to a wider circle of people.

Successes and difficulties

Initially, with the opening of security posts, things went better: one after another, party organizations and committees were dispersed or destroyed, arrests followed one after another. Communists, socialists and liberals reached beyond the borders of the country, from where they continued to lead the movement, being already inaccessible. Such successes in the search work raised the prestige of the gendarmerie, and therefore the illusion of a complete defeat of all revolutionary organizations was created.

District security departments constantly and more often interfered in the actions of the police authorities, that is, political investigations ruined relations with employees of the gendarme offices. The Department sent out its joint efforts circulars periodically, but this did not help. Gradually, the trickle of mutual information dried up. Moreover, the district security posts did not approve of their superior provincial colleagues.

Liquidation

After 1909, work in the district offices declined. Perhaps this also happened because there was a certain lull in the activities of illegal organizations. Deputy Minister V.F. Dzhunkovsky, who is in charge of the police, decided that the existence of security departments had ceased to be expedient. Some of them were merged with the provincial administrations, some were simply abolished. He considered the state benefit to be the rationale for this.

In 1913, a top secret and urgent circular was issued, according to which the Baku, Yekaterinoslavskoe, Kiev, Nizhny Novgorod, Petrokovskoe, Tifliss, Kherson, Yaroslavl, Donskoe, Sevastopol security departments were liquidated. Thus, all, except for the three capital, which opened the very first, were closed. As an exception, the East Siberian and Turkestan branches operated until 1917. But in the absence of a connecting network of the same structural links, they were of little use.

Petersburg security department

Touching upon the work of the Petersburg "secret police", one cannot but touch upon the biography of the main character of this institution (in the photo). The correspondence of the Police Department has survived, and already in the records of 1902 one can find lines where the diligence and diligence of the captain A.V. Gerasimov is extremely highly appreciated. By that time, he had already served in the gendarme office for three years, was also checking the work of other departments, where he also helped his colleagues in every possible way with advice and deed.

First, Gerasimov was encouraged by the appointment to the Kharkov security department in 1902. He led so well that, outside of any rules, already in 1903 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, and in 1905 he took the position of head of the Petersburg security department. He got down to business, as always, actively, first of all, putting things in order in his own institution. The troublemakers in St. Petersburg greatly diminished when Gerasimov personally found underground workshops where explosive shells were made.

Further path

The revolutionaries also appreciated the new "Derzhimorda" at its true worth - several attempts were being made on him. But Gerasimov was experienced and smart - it did not work out. In 1905, he again "outside of any rules" received the rank of colonel, in 1906 - the Order of St. Vladimir, and in 1907 he became a major general. A year later, the sovereign personally thanks him, in 1909 Gerasimov received another order. Career did not go, but flew up the stairs, missing the steps by dozens.

During this time, Gerasimov made the security department the largest and most effective in the country. Ambition he did not lack. Before his arrival, the head of the security department had never reported to the minister on his own. The first (and last) was Gerasimov. For four years, the institution under his leadership has changed radically and only for the better. Therefore, in 1909 Gerasimov was promoted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. General for special assignments - this is how his new position began to sound. He finished his service in 1914 with the rank of lieutenant general.

Petrograd security department

When the war with Germany began, everything German ceased to sound beautiful for the Russian people. That is why the city was renamed - it was Petersburg, Petrograd became. In 1915, Major General K.I. Globachev was appointed head of the security department in the capital, who later wrote the most interesting memoirs.

The largest body of political investigation in the country at that time had more than six hundred employees. The structure included registration and central departments, a security team and a department itself. The latter was organized as follows: undercover and investigative units, external surveillance, archive and office. Through the efforts of Gerasimov, an extraordinary order still reigned here.

Responsibilities

In the intelligence unit, which was the base of the entire institution, all materials from the intelligence sources were concentrated. Experienced gendarme officers and officials worked here, and each had his own, assigned only to him, a part of the intelligence coverage. For example, several people were engaged in the activities of the Bolsheviks, a few more - the Mensheviks, others - the Socialist-Revolutionaries and People's Socialists, someone - social movements, someone - anarchists.

There was a special officer who oversaw the general labor movement. And each of them had their own secret employees and their own sources of information. Only he could see the agents in the safe houses, and only he protected them from failure. The information received was always carefully checked by cross agents and external surveillance, and then developed: persons, addresses, addresses, connections, and the like were found out. Once the organization was surveyed enough, it was liquidated. Then the material of the searches was delivered to the intelligence unit of the security department, sorted out and passed on to the investigators.

Entry. article, prepared. text and comments. Z.I. Peregudova. T. 1. - M .: New literary review, 2004.

"GUARDING" BY THE EYES OF GUARDS

In the late 1870s, the terrorism of the populist revolutionaries who fought against the tsarist government became a characteristic feature of Russian life. Section III, which carried out the functions of the political police, could not cope with them, and it was decided to carry out transformations in this area.
On August 6, 1880, a new institution appeared in Russia - the State Police Department, which became the highest body of the political police in the Russian Empire.
Justifying his proposals, the Minister of Internal Affairs M.T. Loris-Melikov pointed out that “office work in it (the State Police Department. - ZP) can be entrusted only to those persons who, having the knowledge and abilities necessary for service in a higher government institution, are quite trustworthy in terms of their moral qualities, consistency of character and political reliability "1. The old cadres did not fit both in their professional qualities and due to the fact that some of them were gendarmes, military men. Loris-Melikov strove to ensure that the new institution consisted of thieves in law, civilians and with legal training.
By a decree of November 15, 1880, the State Police Department was entrusted with the leadership of both the political and general police. According to Art. 362 "Institutions of the Ministry", the Department was obliged to deal with issues: 1) prevention and suppression of crimes and the protection of public safety and order; 2) conducting cases of state crimes; 3) organizing and monitoring the activities of police institutions; 4) protection of state borders and border communications; issuance of passports to Russian citizens, residence permits in Russia to foreigners; expulsion of foreigners from Russia; monitoring all types of cultural and educational activities and approving the charters of various societies2.
An important role was played by the Special Section of the Department, created in 1898. He was in charge of internal and foreign agents, monitored the correspondence of suspicious persons, supervised the mood of workers and students, and also searched for persons on political issues, etc.
The Police Department and its Special Department carried out their main functions through their subordinate local institutions: provincial gendarme departments (GZHU), regional gendarme departments (OZHU), gendarme police departments of railways (ZhPU railway), as well as search points, part which was later renamed to security departments.
The first provincial gendarme offices were created on the basis of the Regulations on the Gendarme Corps of September 16, 1867. Until the middle of 1868, they appeared in almost all provinces. At the same time, in some localities, gendarme observation posts are created for a specific period and abolished as needed.
The head of the provincial gendarme administration had several assistants who were in the counties and headed the county gendarme administrations. As a rule, one assistant to the head of the GZHU was responsible for several counties.
The main purpose of the gendarme offices was the political investigation, the production of inquiries on state crimes. Until the 1880s, they remained the only local political investigation institutions.
As part of the state police, the GZHU were part of the system of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, being a military unit, they were financed from the budget of the Ministry of War and were subordinate to it for the combat, military, and economic units. GZHU were independent from the governors who were responsible for security and peace in the province; this kind of duality sometimes brought considerable difficulties to their activities and relations with the authorities.
The Police Department exercised the political leadership of the GZHU, but rarely had the opportunity to influence their personnel; the career of the chiefs of the GZHU depended primarily on the leadership of the headquarters of the gendarmes corps.
Since the creation of the capital's GZHU, gendarme cavalry divisions have been organized under them. The main purpose of the divisions was to carry out patrol service and fight unrest. The size of the division, together with officers and non-combatant personnel, practically did not exceed 500 people.
The gendarme police departments of the railways arose in the early 1860s as a result of the transformation of the gendarme squadrons and commands that guarded the first railways.
The original ZhPU of railways were subordinate to the Ministry of Railways (through the inspectors of the respective roads) and only in December 1866 all police departments were removed from the Ministry of Railways and completely subordinated to the chief of gendarmes. The rights and obligations of the ZhPU of the railways were expanded. They were supposed to perform all the duties of the general police, using all the rights assigned to it. The area of ​​operation of the ZhPU railways extended to the entire space alienated for railways, and to all buildings and structures located on this strip.
At the head of the ZhPU of the railways were chiefs with the rights of regiment commanders in the rank of major-generals or colonels, they were appointed by orders of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes. Until 1906, they did not take part either in the production of inquiries on state crimes, or in the political search and surveillance. However, the active role played by the performances of the railroad workers in the October 1905 strike forced the government to take urgent measures and charge the ZhPU of the railways with the responsibility of making inquiries about all "criminal actions" of a political nature committed in the railway exclusion zone. During the production of inquiries, the heads of the departments were subordinate to the heads of the local GZHU. Secret and agent supervision was also created on the railways, which obliged the ZhPU of the railways to have their own secret agents.
In parallel with the metropolitan provincial gendarme departments, security departments operated, to which the main functions of the local political police were rather quickly transferred. The first security department, called the Department for the maintenance of order and peace in the capital, was created in 1866 at the office of the St. Petersburg mayor in connection with the attempted assassination of Alexander II. The second was the Moscow (Secret Investigation Department at the Office of the Moscow Chief of Police), created on November 1, 1880 by order of the Minister of Internal Affairs M.T. Loris-Melikova. The third one is created in 1900 in Warsaw.
The activities of the first security departments were, in the opinion of the authorities, successful. In connection with the growing revolutionary movement and the weakness of the provincial gendarme offices, the authorities are increasingly thinking about how to improve the political investigation, make it more organized and flexible. In cities where workers 'and students' performances took place more and more often, on the initiative of the Police Department, search points (departments) began to be created. Since August 1902, they have been opening in Vilno, Yekaterinoslav, Kazan, Kiev, Odessa, Saratov, Tiflis, Kharkov, Perm, Simferopol (Tavricheskoe), Nizhny Novgorod.
These institutions were supposed to carry out a political search, conduct external surveillance and manage secret agents. In the Regulations on the heads of the search departments, approved on August 12, 1902 by the Minister of Internal Affairs V.K. Plehve, it was pointed out that "the duties of the heads of departments are the acquisition of secret agents, the management of their activities, as well as the selection and training of observant agents" 3. In the same year, a “Code of Rules” was circulated for the heads of security departments, which states that the task of these departments is to search for political affairs, carried out through secret agents and spy surveillance. The duties of the chiefs of departments included the recruitment of internal agents. They had to know well the history of the revolutionary movement, follow the revolutionary literature, and, if possible, acquaint their secret employees with it, developing in the latter a "conscientious attitude to the work of the service" 4. The heads of the search and security departments were directly subordinate to the Police Department, which gave the general direction of their activities, disposed of the personnel.
The creation of a network of new security departments occurred largely as a result of the initiative of the head of the Moscow security department, then the head of the Special Department of the Police Department S.V. Zubatov. However, his resignation in the fall of 1903 prevented him from realizing his plans in full.
As the number of security departments grew, rivalry between the provincial gendarme offices and the security departments grew and intensified. In its circulars, the Department repeatedly calls on them for "mutual assistance", the exchange of information. In many respects, these conflict situations arose due to the fact that, although the functions of the GZHU and security departments were separated, in reality, the search activity (for which the security departments were responsible) and supervisory activities, as well as the conduct of inquiries (which were dealt with by the GZHU) were closely intertwined. In practice, it was sometimes impossible to separate one from the other. Those heads of security departments who passed through the headquarters of the gendarme corps were subordinate to the head of the GZHU in combat terms. The latter, as a rule, was in the rank of colonel or major general. But in relation to the service, he sometimes had to obey the junior chief of the security department.
In 1906-1907, at the initiative of the Director of the Department M.I. Trusevich, work is underway to create new security departments, search units, the entire network of political investigation institutions is expanding. In December 1907, there were already 27 security departments.
On February 9, 1907, Stolypin approved the "Regulations on security departments" 5. The Regulation also includes items related to relations with the GZHU, information exchange between security departments. The gendarme and political bodies, receiving information related to the type of activity of the security departments, had to report them to the security department for development, searches, seizures and arrests, which could not be carried out without the knowledge of the head of the security department. In turn, the heads of the security departments were supposed to inform the GZHU about the circumstances of interest to the latter in the process of their inquiries.
In 1906-1907, security posts appeared. They are organized primarily in places remote from the center, where at that time there was an increase in "fighting" sentiments among the population. The first security posts were established in Khabarovsk, Penza, Gomel, Vladikavkaz, Yekaterinodar, Zhitomir, Kostroma, Poltava, Kursk and a number of other cities.
Simultaneously with the work on the creation of security posts, at the suggestion of the same Trusevich, completely new institutions are being created in the system of political investigation - regional security departments. On December 14, 1906, Stolypin approves a special Regulation on regional security departments. They were created "with the aim of successfully combating the revolutionary movement, which is expressed in a whole series of continuously continuing terrorist acts, agrarian riots, intensified propaganda among the peasants, in the troops and in the navy" 6. The statute on regional security departments entrusted them with the task of uniting all political investigation bodies functioning within the region (covering several provinces). Much attention was paid to the adoption of quick decisions, well-coordinated joint work of security departments and gendarme departments, "so that the activity was more lively and systematic." In one note, dated 1913, the director of the Police Department referred to the district security offices as the "branch office" of his department. It is noteworthy that the district offices were organized so that their sphere of activity coincided (or almost coincided) with the areas of operation of the district party committees of the RSDLP and other revolutionary parties.
The heads of the local security departments were directly subordinate to the head of the district security department. Provincial and district ZhU and ZhPU railway in matters of search, they also had to be guided by the instructions of the head of the district security department.
Among the main tasks of the district security departments were the organization of internal agents for the "development" of all local party organizations and the management of the activities of agents and searches within the boundaries of the district. For this purpose, the heads of the district security departments had the right to convene meetings of officers directly conducting the political search. They were also supposed to inform the higher search institutions about the state of affairs in the revolutionary movement in the region, to help the relevant institutions in other regions in the matter of political search. The officers of the district security departments could use all the investigative and agent materials of the gendarme departments and security departments. If necessary, they should have known secret officers - agents under the jurisdiction of one or another officer of the gendarme department and security department.
At the initial stage of their activities, the district security departments played a significant role in the defeat of party organizations, party committees, and the coordination of the activities of detective services in the field. Their successes raised the prestige of investigative activities among the authorities, created the illusion of a possible defeat of revolutionary organizations.
However, difficulties also arose. As the intervention of the district security departments in the activities of local police authorities increased, their relationship with the employees of the GZHU became more and more complicated. The circulars periodically issued by the Department with a reminder of the need for joint efforts in the fight against the forces of the revolution and mandatory mutual information did not help either. Officials of the district security departments sometimes did not show the due tact in relation to their provincial colleagues. Complaints and discontent often led to conflicts and slander, which had to be dealt with by the Police Department. Since 1909, the activities of the district security departments have been weakening, which was largely due to the lull in the activities of the revolutionary organizations.
V.F. Dzhunkovsky, appointed in January 1913 as Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, head of the police, raised the question of the expediency of the existence of security departments. By this time, the Police Department had gradually begun to abolish security departments in those areas "where there was no urgent need for such for the suppression of revolutionary movements." Some of the security departments were merged with the provincial gendarme departments. The unification took place in those provinces where the head of the GZHU was sufficiently prepared in the search. Carrying out these measures, the Police Department justified them with "state benefits", however, as some police officials believed, the main reason was that the Department did not find "any other way out of this situation" when clearly "abnormal" relationship. In his memoirs V.F. Dzhunkovsky writes in detail about his attitude to security departments. “When I was still the governor in Moscow,” writes Dzhunkovsky, “I have always had a negative attitude towards these regional security divisions that have arisen before my eyes in general and, in particular, to that of the Moscow Central District, observing all the negative aspects of this innovation.<...>All these district and independent security departments were only breeding grounds for provocation; the small benefit that they, perhaps, could bring, was completely obscured by the colossal harm that they sowed during these several years ”7.
On May 15, 1913, Dzhunkovsky distributed a circular, which "top secret", "urgently" the chiefs of the Baku, Yekaterinoslav, Kiev, Nizhny Novgorod, Petrokovsky, Tiflis, Kherson and Yaroslavl GZHUs, Donskoy and Sevastopol regional gendarme departments were informed about the liquidation of their gubernial departments in their provincial departments. The circular stated: “Having discussed the position of the search at the current moment, in connection with the manifestations of the revolutionary movement in the Empire and taking into account that the security departments, except those established by law (meaning St. Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw. - Z. P. ), were considered as temporary institutions, I recognized it expedient, in order to achieve uniformity in the organization of the search business and its management, to add the remaining independent security departments to the local provincial gendarme administrations ”8. Soon, all security departments (except for the capital) were liquidated, and their chiefs became the heads of the newly created search units of the GZHU.
Realizing that the measures taken cannot but cause dissatisfaction with the heads of the abolished security departments, Dzhunkovsky wrote in the same circular: “... I consider it necessary to point out that the unification in your person of the activities of both institutions should not be considered as humiliation of the official dignity of the head of the abolished security department, for the establishment of such an order<...>is caused not by any other considerations, but by the interests of the most important duties for the ranks of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, by improving the conditions for conducting the search business. "
Following the liquidation of the security departments, Dzhunkovsky begins to prepare measures to abolish the district security departments. In 1914, all regional security departments, except for Turkestan and East Siberian, were abolished. The rest operated until 1917. As before 1902, the GZHU became the central link of the political investigation in the localities.
This eliminated an important link in the structure of political investigation. As subsequent events showed, the measures taken by Dzhunkovsky did not contribute to either strengthening the political police, or improving the situation in relations between its leading cadres.
The above mentioned works that contain a detailed and diverse description of the activities of the political investigation of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. However, they provide mainly an external, "objective" view of the work of the Police Department and security departments. But for understanding these institutions, the subjective side is also very important - the motives and goals of the activities of their employees, the specificity of their vision of the situation, their self-esteem. Indeed, in their service, along with the career, mercantile side, there was also an ideological side, associated with their understanding of the current political situation and their duty, their function in state and public life.
Here, for example, "Review of the current conditions of the official position of the provincial gendarme administration and a number of considerations regarding changes in their organization and order of activity", prepared by the head of the Voronezh GZHU N.V. Vasiliev. The author critically assessed the state of the political investigation and its personnel. He saw a way out of the situation, in particular, in the unification of the Gendarme Corps with the general police, as well as in the organization of courses to improve the qualifications of detective workers.
Before us is a gendarme philosopher. He writes: “You cannot kill an idea. The evolution of human thought goes on without stopping, irrepressibly transforming the views, beliefs, and then the social order of the life of peoples. The history of revolutionary movements teaches us that it is impossible to stop the course of major historical events, just as it is impossible for man to stop the rotation of the Earth. But the same story gives on its pages too full-fledged evidence that the pioneers of the revolution, full of energy and enthusiasm, have always been utopians, and in their struggle with social inertia, in their desire to recreate new forms of life, they usually not only did not contribute to the progress of their homeland, but often served as a brake on the correct course of development of social consciousness. The role of the pioneers in history is condemned by history itself. It is common for mankind to err, and the foremost theoreticians, no matter how ideal their aspirations seem to be, were not and will not be the true leaders of the people ... "
Vasiliev believed that the system, which "withstood the struggle" for half a century, "hardly needs a radical transformation", but "the existing building of the gendarmerie supervision should be completed, adapted to modern requirements" ... But not subjected to "breaking" and " re-creation "9.
An important source of information on this issue is the memoirs of officials of the Police Department, gendarmerie, persons associated with the Russian political investigation. However, the overwhelming majority of them were published in exile, and only a few were reprinted in Russia10. This collection is intended to fill the existing gap. Of the five books by four authors presented in it, only one (A.V. Gerasimov) was published in Russia, and the book by A.T. Vasilyeva is published in Russian for the first time ever.

The memoirs of Gerasimov, small in volume, were first published in 1934 in German and French. Alexander Vasilyevich Gerasimov was born on November 7, 1861, was educated at the Kharkov real school, then graduated from the Chuguev infantry cadet school in the first category. After graduating from college, he entered military service in the rank of ensign in 1883, which he served in the 61st Reserve Infantry Battalion. In November 1889, he transferred to the Gendarme Corps and rose from lieutenant to major general. His first place of service was associated with Samara, where he was sent as an adjutant of the Samara provincial gendarme administration. Two years later, he continued to serve in Kharkov, first as an adjutant, and then as an assistant to the head of the Kharkov provincial gendarme office (from September 1894) 11.
In the correspondence of the Police Department, the diligence and diligence of the captain A.V. Gerasimov. One of the certificates about his activities said that Gerasimov "drew attention to himself with his abilities and diligence", during his three-year service in the GZHU "he rendered very significant services in matters of political investigation." Gerasimov was periodically sent to various locations to assist colleagues, and sometimes for inspections, and he always “carried out the assignments entrusted to him with excellent success, fully justifying the trust placed in him” 12.
In 1902, when security departments began to be created, Gerasimov was appointed head of the Kharkov security department. The document already cited indicated that “from the very first steps of his department head, Captain Gerasimov was able to raise the business entrusted to him to the proper height, which resulted in the permanent successful activity of the department, whose region, in addition to Kharkov, included other cities of the Kharkov province. In addition, the named officer quite successfully carried out the assignments entrusted to him to organize the search and surveillance in other localities outside the observation area ”13. In 1903, Gerasimov "outside the rules" was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In February 1905, on the proposal of the Director of the Police Department A.A. Lopukhin, he took the position of head of the Petersburg security department. In his service record, it was indicated that his appointment took place as an officer distinguished by "already tested experience, deep knowledge of the matter and rare devotion to official duty ...".
In St. Petersburg, he actively gets down to business, putting things in order in the very security department and actively engaged in the fight against the revolutionary movement. Major General D.F. Trepov, extremely pleased with his actions, believed that thanks to his “exceptionally skillful management and energy,<...>all the main administrators of the turmoil, "explosive shell workshops were discovered, a number of actions were warned," and "all the work was carried out under a constant threat from the revolutionaries."
In June 1905 Gerasimov was promoted to the rank of colonel "outside the rules"; in 1906, the Order of St. Vladimir 3rd degree, the next year, in 1907, he was awarded the rank of Major General, in 1908 he was awarded the highest gratitude, and on January 1, 1909 he was awarded the Order of St. Stanislav 1st degree.
The constant attention and benevolence of Trepov, then Stolypin, fueled Gerasimov's ambitions: the Petersburg security department, which he headed, was one of the largest in Russia; he obtained independent reports to the minister (which had never happened before).
His service as head of the Petersburg security department lasted four years. Basically, his memories are devoted to this period. The correspondence between the Police Department and the Ministry of Internal Affairs indicated that over the years he had undermined his health and had often consulted doctors.
In April 1909 Gerasimov transferred to the Ministry of Internal Affairs as a general for special assignments under the minister. He often goes on business trips in order to check the activities of the institutions of political investigation and the work of individuals.
Working at one time with Stolypin, Gerasimov intended to get the post of assistant minister of internal affairs, head of the police. But after the death of Stolypin and the departure of A.A. Makarov, from the post of Minister of Internal Affairs, the thread that tightly connected him with this ministry was cut. And the appointment of V.F. Dzhunkovsky in January 1913, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, the head of the police finally ruined his plans. New people came to the ministry, with whom Gerasimov practically had nothing to do. His career ended in early 1914 after he submitted his resignation letter in December 1913. When retiring for his previous services, he was given the rank of lieutenant general.
The memoirs of Gerasimov are devoted almost exclusively to the struggle against one direction in the revolutionary movement - terror. One of the leaders of the Socialist-Revolutionary movement V.M. Chernov, having familiarized himself with Gerasimov's book, wrote: “Only after the memoirs of General Gerasimov came out (in German), did we finally understand the general picture of the catastrophe that befell our combat work, just at the very time when Bo (the military organization. - ZP), according to the party's plans, it had to bring its attacks on the tsarist regime to maximum energy ”14. The memoirs of Gerasimov are also interesting in that they reflected a very important moment in the life of the Socialist-Revolutionary party, its "wrong side" and the crisis that it experienced in connection with the betrayal of Azef.
Another author whose memoirs are included in the collection is Pavel Pavlovich Zavarzin. While in exile, he was one of the first in 1924 to publish his memoirs "The Work of the Secret Police". Six years later, in 1930, he published a second book, Gendarmes and Revolutionaries, which partially repeats and partially supplements the first.
Zavarzin was born on February 13, 1868 into a family of nobles in the Kherson province. He received his general education at the Odessa real school, then graduated from the Odessa infantry cadet school in the first category. In 1888, with the rank of second lieutenant, he entered the service in the 16th Infantry Battalion of His Majesty and served there for 10 years. As part of this battalion, he is in Livadia in the days of the death of Alexander III, he guarded the Hessian princess Alix (the future Empress Alexandra Feodorovna) during her arrival in Russia, in Livadia, for which he was awarded the Cavalry Cross of the 2nd class of the Hessian Order of Philip the Magnanimous.
In May 1898, with the rank of lieutenant, he transferred to the Gendarme Corps. Initially, Zavarzin served as an adjutant in the Bessarabian GZHU, from August 1899 as an adjutant in the Tavrichesky GZHU, where he received the rank of head captain. A few months later, in May 1900, he was transferred as an assistant to the head of the Volochis section of the Kiev gendarme-police department of the railway. At the end of the year, in December, he receives the rank of captain. In June of the following year, he was transferred to the post of head of the Lubensky branch of the Moscow-Kiev gendarme-police department, and two years later he was seconded to the Bessarabian GZHU and appointed to the post of head of the newly created Bessarabian security department.
The next year, from June 1904, he was transferred to the post of assistant to the head of the Mogilev GZHU in the Gomel district. The revolutionary events of 1905 in Russia and the dramatic situation in Odessa required the strengthening of this area by experienced personnel familiar with this city and the situation. Therefore, Zavarzin, who did not serve even a month in his new position, was transferred to Odessa as the head of the security department, and from July 7, 1905, he headed the Don regional security department, on August 11, 1906, he was transferred to the head of the public security department in Warsaw15.
Service in Warsaw lasted almost three and a half years. This was a rather difficult period in Zavarzin's activity, since the revolutionary organizations in Warsaw were very strong, they had a good conspiracy.
Based on his already quite extensive experience, Zavarzin was able to effectively use the work of secret officers who worked in the Warsaw security department. Unfortunately, Zavarzin talks very sparingly about his secret agents, mentioning mainly only those who died before the revolution.
The successful implementation of political investigations in Chisinau, Odessa, Rostov-on-Don and especially in Warsaw ensured Zavarzin's reputation as a high-class specialist, and at the end of 1909 he was appointed head of the Moscow security department (lieutenant colonel from December 6, 1906) 16.
Zavarzin was the initiator of the creation of the Instructions of the Moscow Security Department on the organization and maintenance of internal agents. It was based on the secret Instruction of the Police Department, published in 1907. The reason that prompted him to write "his" instruction was that the instruction of the Department was published in a limited number of copies and sent only to the heads of eight district security departments. Many chiefs of the GZHU saw her only from the hands of the heads of the regional secret police. The instruction was strictly classified, because they were afraid that it might fall into the hands of the revolutionaries, who would reveal all the "tricks" of the "secret police".
The instructions of the Moscow security department, prepared by Zavarzin, were more interesting, written in a more accessible language and gave specific advice on acquiring secret agents, communicating and working with these agents, concretizing various categories of secret employees: auxiliary agents, shtuchniks, etc. 17 However, its text has not been agreed with the Police Department. And when, at the beginning of 1911, through the Minister of Internal Affairs, the instruction came to the head of the Special Section of the Police Department A.M. Ereminu, who was one of the developers of the instruction of the Police Department, she indignated him. The director of the Department was also indignant18.
Zavarzin's normal and sometimes even friendly relations with the Moscow authorities contrasted sharply with the increasingly strained relations with the Police Department. In July 1912, Zavarzin was transferred to Odessa as the head of the gendarme department. This was not considered a demotion, but in reality meant that the peak of his career was behind.
Describing Zavarzin, Martynov writes in his memoirs published in this collection: “I must say that Colonel Zavarzin, despite all the primitiveness of his nature, insufficient general development, so to speak,“ lack of culture, ”nevertheless, after fourteen years of service in the gendarme corps, had the practice search case ". Paying tribute to his professionalism, Martynov at the same time believes that he was dismissed from the post of head of the Moscow security department not only for omissions in the implementation of the measures of the Police Department, but simply because of the inadequacy of this difficult position.
However, not everything can be agreed with Martynov. Zavarzin really did not have enough stars from the sky, but he was hardworking and efficient, did not conflict with colleagues, knew his business and left his department to Martynov in excellent condition.
On June 2, 1914, the family of Nicholas II was returning from Romania through Odessa. This trip of the royal family was planned as a secret bridegroom of the heir to the Romanian throne. There were rumors that he was tipped to be the husband of the eldest Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna. The princess was not told anything about this, but the prince clearly did not make an impression not only on Olga Nikolaevna, but also on the whole family.
The meeting of the emperor in Odessa was clearly organized. “For the excellent order in Odessa during the stay of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II and the august family” Zavarzin was declared “The Highest Grace” 19.
On June 3, 1916, Zavarzin was appointed head of the Warsaw Provincial Gendarme Directorate. However, due to the war and the evacuation of the Warsaw GZHU, he moved to Petrograd. There, he was temporarily assigned to the Petrograd City Department of the Interior and placed at the disposal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From time to time, the Ministry and the Police Department send him on business trips across Russia.
The events of February 1917 found him in Petrograd. Like most senior St. Petersburg officials, Zavarzin was arrested in the early days of the February Revolution by the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry to investigate the actions of former ministers and other officials. He was imprisoned for a little over a month and was soon able to leave Russia.
The most detailed memoirs ("My Service in the Separate Corps of Gendarmes") were left by the youngest representative of this gendarme cohort, Colonel A.P. Martynov. They were written later than his colleagues did; the author worked on them with interruptions for five years (1933-1938). Therefore, perhaps they are more thoughtful, and sometimes more frank in their assessments, likes and dislikes. They were published in 1972 in the United States after his death.
Martynov was born on August 14, 1875 in Moscow into a noble family. He was educated at the 3rd Moscow Cadet Corps, then graduated from the 3rd Aleksandrovskoe School in the first category. He served in the 2nd Sofia Infantry Regiment, then in the 7th Grenadier Samogit Regiment. At this time, his older brother Nikolai was already serving in the Corps of Gendarmes, and the author of the memoirs's constant desire was also to be assigned to the Corps of Gendarmes, where he was admitted in May 1899.
His entire life path up to the October Revolution - service in the GZHU and security departments - can be traced in his memoirs. Therefore, we will restrict ourselves to only brief information about him. Immediately after entering the Corps, he was assigned as a junior officer in the Moscow gendarme division. After completing courses at the headquarters of the Corps of Gendarmes, he served as an adjutant in the Petersburg GZHU, in January 1903 he was transferred as an assistant to the chief of the Petrokovsk GZHU, in February 1903 he returned to the Petersburg GZHU; he began independent work in the Saratov security department, where he was sent in July 1906 as the head of the department. After six years in this position, he was transferred (July 12, 1912) to Moscow as the head of the Moscow security department.
Giving an overall assessment of Martynov's work and business qualities and petitioning in May 1916 to award him with the Order of Prince Vladimir of the 4th degree "beyond any rules", the Moscow mayor, Major General V.N. Shebeko wrote: “From the first reports made to me personally by Colonel Martynov about the vigorous activity that the ranks of the Division have shown and are showing in the fight against anarchy, I became convinced of the personal remarkable abilities and energy of the aforementioned staff officer, who constantly tirelessly personally leads everyone affairs of the political search in such a difficult point as the city of Moscow, the maintenance of order in which is reflected in the activities of revolutionary organizations throughout the Empire<...>the ranks of the Division, despite the overwhelming mass of occupations, especially those increased due to the circumstances experienced by their homeland, work willingly with excellent diligence - thanks to the ability of Colonel Martynov to instill in the midst of their subordinates the spirit of striving for honest performance of official duties.<...>The systematic and persistent work of Colonel Martynov in the fight against revolutionary leaders, with an undoubted availability of outstanding tracing abilities and with a great ability to work, resulted in a complete disorganization of the Moscow underground organizations of these figures. "
On the very first day of unrest in Petrograd (and they immediately became known in Moscow) Martynov on February 28 turned to the counting department of the treasury of the Moscow city government with a request to issue 10,000 rubles for the costs of the security department. The money was distributed to the branch employees as an advance payment for the month of March. In 1918, he was prosecuted for this act and was accused of "embezzlement and misappropriation of government money entrusted to him by office." But all the witnesses confirmed the receipt of the money, which was proved by the financial documentation. For himself, Martynov left 1,000 rubles, "keeping them also at the expense of his maintenance for the month of March." He was acquitted. In his conclusion dated May 11, 1918, signed by E.F. Rozmirovich and N.V. Krylenko, it was said: "Due to the circumstances of that time" this was caused by "a simple everyday necessity, in view of the special official position of the ranks of the security department" and the need to "ensure their existence in the near future" 21.
A few days after the uprising in Petrograd, riots broke out in Moscow. On March 1, 1917, a crowd bursting into the security department and Martynov's apartment, located in the same building, broke into cabinets, filing cabinets, threw documents onto the street and kindled fires. Files, albums, catalogs, photographs were on fire22. Judging by Martynov's memorandum dated March 13, 1917, he was not in the city at that time, but some believe that he was in Moscow and even took part in this action. In any case, during the pogrom, one felt "one's own" hand. The materials of all divisions of the Moscow security department were practically not touched, except for one - the intelligence department, where the materials of the intelligence reports were stored, the intelligence department's card index, which could reveal the secret employees of the Moscow security department. Some photographs and documents were later taken from the desk of the secret police chief.
In the first days of March, the new government was looking for Martynov, but, as he later wrote, it was difficult for him to return to Moscow. Upon his return, he wrote a report submitted to the Moscow Commissioner on March 13, 1917. The report is interesting not only from the point of view of purely official relations, but also as a document containing a political assessment of what was happening. Considering the situation difficult and especially difficult for the former head of the security department, he writes: “First of all, I consider it my duty to declare my complete submission to the present government and that I have not taken and will never take any measures or actions that could harm him in any way. from the very beginning of his assumption of power, stopping all work of the department entrusted to me.<...>I must also report that since the last days of February this year, when the city administration did not receive any instructions from Petrograd, but it was definitely known that the Provisional Government took control of the country - any opposition to it only complicated the situation, so I ordered on the Department, so that no arrests were made, so that those arrested who were in custody of the mayor would be released.<...>I am deeply convinced that none of my subordinates, both from the officer corps, as well as officials and lower employees, would take any measures leading to harm to the Provisional Government, since it was completely clear that going against the general desire is senseless, harmful and could only create extremely undesirable complications, especially in the difficult times that we are all going through. The incredible blindness in which the old government was, who did not know how to listen to those warning reports that were repeatedly given to it, which indicated both the decline of the prestige of the dynasty and general indignation, made service under this regime impossible ”23. It is worth noting that Martynov's reports were carefully read by the direct leadership, but many materials of this kind were compiled by the Minister of Internal Affairs Protopopov "under the covers."
Further in the report, Martynov speaks of his desire and the desire of his subordinates to go to the front - "to join the active army on a general basis, both in his service and in its ranks, and to be vital defenders of the homeland and loyal servants of the Provisional Government" 24.
In early April 1917 A.P. Martynov was arrested. Initially, he was held in the palace guardhouse in the Kremlin, in June he was transferred to the Moscow provincial prison. He was interrogated by the Commission for the Maintenance of the New System. The questions concerned his direct service for political investigation and leadership of him and the secret agents. Martynov formalized his testimony in the form of "Notes on the Organization of the System of Political Investigation." When asked about specific secret officers, and in particular, about the presence of agents among the military in the Moscow security department, Martynov answered orally. “As far as I remember,” he said, “there were no detectives of military agents in the Saratov security department, just as there was none with me and in the Moscow security department. Regarding the list presented to me (Martynov was presented with a list of auxiliary agents of the MOO, dated 1911 - ZP), I can not say anything, then I did not serve. I did not accept military agents from Zavarzin and did not start one myself, personally taking a negative attitude towards this, believing that a political search from the military environment is useless and can be brought in from outside in case of need ”25. It should be noted that Martynov's negative attitude to the establishment of secret agents among the military coincided with the position of the former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs V.F. Dzhunkovsky, who just as sharply opposed the presence of agents in the army and by his order abolished it26. However, if Martynov considered the establishment of agents in the army a useless affair, then Dzhunkovsky motivated his decision with ethical considerations, considering denunciation of colleagues and bosses in the military environment an immoral phenomenon.
One of the main tasks of the Commission for ensuring the new system, which interrogated Martynov, was to identify the secret agents of the Moscow security department. The materials of the intelligence department were practically destroyed by the fire, so the lists of secret officers were compiled according to indirect data, and then they were clarified, much was restored based on the materials of the Police Department, during interrogations of the officers of the "secret police". Judging by Martynov's answers, he did not hide the names of those agents with whom he worked, gave information about the appearance of some employees, their business qualities. Judging by the protocols, he tried to leave an impression of himself as a specialist, whose knowledge may still be useful to the new authorities.
The circumstances were favorable for him, including after the October Revolution. In November 1917, it became possible to be released on bail. His wife Evgenia Nikolaevna made a deposit of 5,000 rubles to the Moscow Treasury, and D.P. Evnevich signed a decree on the release of Martynov from prison. Even earlier, his son Alexander was released, who was arrested with him.
However, it was clear to him that it was impossible to stay in Russia.
In the spring of 1918, Martynov and his family managed to escape to the south. He joined the White Army, served in counterintelligence in the Black Sea Fleet, then left the Crimea for Constantinople. Together with the former head of the Moscow detective department A.F. Koshko organized a private detective bureau in Constantinople.
In 1923, Martynov and his family moved to the United States, where for some time he worked in New York on the protection of banks, offices, etc. In 1951 he moved to California and soon died in Los Angeles.

“Guards are the Russian secret police” - this is the name given to his memoirs by the last director of the Police Department, A.T. Vasiliev. The word "guard" in these memoirs had a rather capacious meaning and meant both the political police in general and its constituent parts: the governing body - the Police Department, provincial gendarme offices and security departments. "Protection" is practically a synonym for the word "secret police", which was widespread at that time.
Vasiliev, the only one of the memoirists presented in the book, was not a military man and did not belong to the Gendarme Corps. However, due to his official duties, he had to fight the opposition forces, like the gendarmes.
The position of director of the Police Department was the peak of Vasiliev's career. In the future, he was supposed to become an assistant minister of the interior, but by the February Revolution of 1917 he managed to become only an acting assistant minister. Of all four memoirists, Vasiliev held the highest post, was in the center of events, but turned out to be less perspicacious than his colleagues. Evidence of this can be found in the words spoken by Vasiliev at an audience with Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in October 1916 when he was appointed to the post of Director of the Department. To the empress's question about the unrest, he replied that “revolution is absolutely impossible in Russia. Of course, there is a certain nervous tension among the population due to the ongoing war and the heavy burden that it has caused, but the people trust the king and do not think about an uprising, ”and further added that any protests would be quickly suppressed.
A.T. Vasiliev was born in 1869 in Kiev. In the same place in 1891 he graduated from the law faculty of St. Vladimir University and entered the civil service in the prosecutor's office in the Kiev judicial district. In 1894, he was appointed a forensic investigator in the city of Kamenets-Podolsk, and a year later he moved to the post of assistant prosecutor of the Lutsk district court. In this position, Vasiliev then worked in Kiev (1901-1904), then was transferred to St. Petersburg. In the first years of his service in the prosecutor's office, Vasilyev was mainly involved in criminal cases, and in St. Petersburg he worked in close contact with the St. Petersburg City Department of Public Administration, supervised the production of inquiries in political matters.
In 1906 Vasiliev moved from the Ministry of Justice to the Ministry of Internal Affairs; he served in the Police Department as a 5th Class Special Assignment Officer. Due to the fact that during this period difficulties arose in the selection of the heads of the most responsible division of the Police Department - the Special Division, he was in charge of this division for several months. At the same time, by order of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs P.G. Kurlov and Minister of Internal Affairs P.A. Stolypin, he inspected a number of security departments, institutions of political investigation.
As a Special Assignment Officer, he oversaw the work of the Special Section, sometimes acting as Vice Director of the Police Department. Vasiliev worked in the Department for two years and returned to the prosecutor's office. In 1908 he was appointed to the St. Petersburg Court of Justice, and from 1909 he held the former position of Assistant Prosecutor of the St. Petersburg District Court. Four years later, Vasiliev returned to the Police Department for his former position as an official for special assignments, but already of the 4th grade and was acting as vice-director of the Police Department for political affairs.
In many respects, this return was facilitated by the new Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs V.F. Dzhunkovsky. In his memoirs, he wrote: “... I invited the vice-director for the management of the special department of the Department of the assistant prosecutor, the state councilor Vasilyev, who corrected the post. I did not know him, but they recommended him to me as a noble and honest person, and besides, I was seduced by the fact that at one time he had already served in the Department of Political Affairs, therefore, he was familiar with the mechanism of this case. " Further, Dzhunkovsky, however, supplements this characterization with by no means flattering words: “Then I had to greatly repent of this appointment, to admit my mistake, I was too hasty. Vasiliev turned out to be lazy and not very capable of his position and was not averse to the negative methods of protection, although he was a quite decent person ”27.
On November 3, 1915, Vasiliev was appointed a member of the Council of the Main Directorate for the Press. But Vasiliev parted with the Department for only a year. The new Minister of Internal Affairs A.D. Protopopov had a friendly disposition towards him and, shortly after his appointment, invited him to take up the post of Director of the Department. On September 28, 1916, the highest personal decree on the appointment of Vasiliev followed. This appointment was unexpected for many and, judging by the testimony of Vasiliev, for himself. In an interview with journalists immediately after his appointment, he said: “I spent almost all my service in the prosecutor’s office, law and law are the only guiding principles. These principles, which I strove to implement during my entire previous service, I intend to put at the foundation of my present activity as Director of the Police Department. - In all private individual cases, I will treat the interests of the population with full benevolence, but, of course, within the limits, within which the observance of the state benefit will allow. I have no bias, bias. In the foreground should be the observance of the highest state interests and the benefits of the Empire's multimillion population. "
Judging by the reviews of people who knew him well, Vasiliev was a benevolent, experienced lawyer, he liked to advise, "train" his colleagues. But in difficult situations he did not take on much. In this regard, his interview with the Kolokol newspaper about his plans is typical: “I, the director of the Police Department, do not have a special program. All activities of the Department under my jurisdiction are reduced to the execution of orders from above. The minister in charge of the Department has his own program, and I must adhere to this program too ... "28
In his written explanations given to the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry, he expressed his attitude to the work more definitely: “I have always believed that the Police Department should not play any independent role, but should serve as a center where certain information is concentrated, of which only the Minister of Internal Affairs should in one way or another operate. That is why I promised the latter when I took office: diligence, truthfulness and the complete absence of any business that would have been done without him, the minister, knowing.
I adhered to the conviction that I was one of the many directors of central institutions, that I was not assigned any special privileges and that I would not engage in any special policy, and indeed I could not, since I was not inclined to this by my nature. I thought that I would only be the head of the institution, to whom I would try to instill decent principles, and that if such intentions of mine did not correspond to the types and desires of the authorities, then I would leave the post without any regret ”29.
This view of his duties explains a lot in the activities of Vasiliev himself and the institution under his authority in the months preceding the revolution.
These statements sound all the more unexpected since Protopopov, a person not experienced in the affairs of the Police Department and in organizing the system of political investigation, was the Minister of Internal Affairs at that time. The historian P. Shchegolev wrote that Vasiliev acted as the second person, played along with his minister and, apparently, helped him in using the Police Department for personal purposes. Sending an agent to investigate what is said about the minister in government circles, and copying letters from persons of interest to the minister — this is the daily work of the director of the Police Department under Protopopov30.
This characteristic is confirmed by the statement of S.P. Beletsky, former director of the Police Department, then Assistant Minister of the Interior. In his testimony given to the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry, he wrote that Protopopov became close to Vasiliev thanks to Kurlov and Badmaev. "In Vasiliev<...>Protopopov, as he personally told me, appreciated mainly the exceptional devotion to his personal interests, to which Vasiliev recently sacrificed even his old friendly ties with P.G. Kurlov "31.
There were rumors that other comrades of the minister did not want to take on the responsibility of being in charge of the police32. In this case, obviously, Protopopov did not want to have any figure between himself and Vasiliev, preferring direct contact.
In October 1916, newspapers reported on the redistribution of powers between the Minister of the Interior and the Director of the Police Department. If earlier the Director of the Department was subordinate to the Deputy Minister of the Interior, who was in charge of the Police Department, now - directly to the Minister of the Interior. In addition, “according to a special report, it was supposed to grant Vasiliev the rights of a deputy minister” 33. And indeed, the highest order on this issue was soon published: “On November 25, 1916, His Imperial Majesty All-mercifully ordered to entrust the duties of the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs in charge of the police department to the director of the department, the actual state councilor Vasiliev, with the granting of him the right to be present for the minister in the governing senate and the highest state institutions, as well as the right to sign papers for this department and decide the current reports of the estimated and administrative nature of the Police Department ”34.
The February revolution brought many surprises to Vasiliev. In early March, he appeared with a letter to M.V. Rodzianko to the State Duma, in which he wrote: "I consider it my duty to inform you that only today, having recovered from the postponed events, I will come to the State Duma to hand myself over to the Provisional Executive Committee of the State Duma." On the same day, along with the letter, he was arrested and taken to the Tauride Palace35.
Subsequently, Vasiliev was held in the Trubetskoy bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress. On September 5, due to his "painful condition", he was transferred to the surgical department of the Petrograd Solitary Prison, and in October he was released on bail36.
Subsequently, he and his wife managed to go abroad.
Vasiliev's memoirs were written in France. He spent the last years of his life in the Russian House in Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois, where the poor Russian emigres of Paris found refuge.
He died in 1930, the same year that his memoirs were published in London in English. The book was written in Russian, then translated into English. Unfortunately, the Russian original could not be found, so the book is being published in a reverse translation. Obviously, the specifics of the book were difficult for the English translator, who was not strong enough in Russian terms concerning the police, and, perhaps, did not know all the nuances and complexities of the work of the Russian special service.

The memoirs of four representatives of the political police of tsarist Russia in the last years of its existence included in the book are not equal in their content and volume, in some details they complement each other, in some they demonstrate a different assessment of the same events. Undoubtedly, such "inconsistency" allows a deeper sense of the complexities and contradictions, including the contradictions of a personal nature, which left a significant imprint on the nature and activities of the detective services.
All four authors talk about the same events, deeds and people: about the methods of work of the political police, about the attitude to provocation and what they consider a provocation, about Azef, Rasputin, the murder of Karpov, the murder of Rasputin. But each of them brings their own vision of events, additional nuances, their attitude to persons and facts. As a result, the reader gets a multidimensional, three-dimensional picture of what happened.
Drawing without embellishment and skillfully a picture of the local political investigation of Russia, the authors give the reader the opportunity to see real people and real institutions of this investigation, and at the same time discard the primitive cliches that were imposed on him in the recent past.

I thank O.V. Budnitsky, D.I. Zubareva, G.S. Kahn, K.N. Morozova, G.A. Smolitsky, A.V. Shmelev, M. Shrubu for information and advice, and Professor of the University of Chicago J. Daly for copies of books published abroad used in the preparation of this publication.

Z. Peregudova

Read here:

P.P. Zavarzin Gendarmes and revolutionaries... In the book: "Security". Memoirs of the leaders of the political investigation. Volume 2, M., New Literary Review, 2004.

The security department appeared in Russia in the 1860s, when the country was swept by a wave of political terror. Gradually, the tsarist secret police turned into a secret organization, whose employees, in addition to fighting the revolutionaries, solved their own specific tasks.

Special agents

One of the most important roles in the tsarist secret police was played by the so-called special agents, whose inconspicuous work allowed the police to create an effective system of surveillance and prevention of opposition movements. These included spies - "agents of external surveillance" and informers - "auxiliary agents".

On the eve of the First World War, there were 70,500 informers and about 1,000 spies. It is known that from 50 to 100 surveillance agents were on duty every day in both capitals.

There was a rather strict selection in place of the spy. The candidate had to be "honest, sober, courageous, dexterous, developed, quick-witted, hardy, patient, persistent, careful." They usually took young people no older than 30 years old with an inconspicuous appearance.

The informers were hired for the most part from among the doormen, janitors, clerks, passport officers. Auxiliary agents were required to report all suspicious individuals to the district superintendent who worked with them.
Unlike the spies, the informers were not full-time employees, and therefore did not receive a permanent salary. Usually, for information that, when checked, turned out to be "solid and useful", they were given a reward from 1 to 15 rubles.

Sometimes they were paid with things. Thus, Major General Alexander Spiridovich recalled how he bought new galoshes for one of the informants. “And then he thrashed his comrades, he threw himself out with a kind of frenzy. This is what the galoshes have done, ”the officer wrote.

Perlustrators

There were people in the detective police who performed a rather unseemly job - reading personal correspondence, called perlustration. This tradition was introduced by Baron Alexander Benckendorff even before the creation of the security department, calling it "a very useful business." The reading of personal correspondence became especially active after the assassination of Alexander II.

"Black cabinets", created under Catherine II, worked in many cities of Russia - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, Kharkov, Tiflis. The conspiracy was such that the employees of these offices did not know about the existence of offices in other cities.
Some of the "black offices" had their own specifics. According to the newspaper "Russkoe slovo" for April 1917, if in St. Petersburg they specialized in rewriting the letters of dignitaries, then in Kiev they studied the correspondence of prominent emigrants - Gorky, Plekhanov, Savinkov.

According to the data for 1913, 372 thousand letters were opened and 35 thousand extracts were made. This productivity is astounding, given that there were only 50 perusalists, joined by 30 postal workers.
It was a rather lengthy and laborious job. Sometimes letters had to be deciphered, copied, exposed to acids or alkalis in order to reveal the hidden text. And only then the suspicious letters were forwarded to the search authorities.

Our among strangers

For more effective work of the security department, the Police Department has created an extensive network of "internal agents", infiltrating various parties and organizations and exercising control over their activities. According to the instructions for the recruitment of secret agents, preference was given to "weak-willed revolutionaries who were suspected or already involved in political affairs, disenchanted or offended by the party."
The payment for secret agents ranged from 5 to 500 rubles a month, depending on the status and benefits. The secret police encouraged their agents to advance up the party ladder and even helped them in this matter by arresting higher-ranking party members.

The police were very wary of those who voluntarily expressed a desire to serve the protection of state order, since there were many random people among them. As the circular from the Police Department shows, during 1912 the secret police refused the services of 70 people "as untrustworthy." For example, the exiled settler recruited by the secret police, Feldman, when asked about the reason for giving false information, replied that he was without any means of subsistence and went on perjury for a reward.

Provocateurs

The activities of recruited agents were not limited to espionage and the transfer of information to the police; they often provoked actions for which members of an illegal organization could be arrested. The agents announced the place and time of the action, and it was no longer difficult for the trained police to detain the suspects. According to the founder of the CIA, Allen Dulles, it was the Russians who raised the provocation to the level of art. According to him, "this was the main means by which the tsarist secret police attacked the trail of revolutionaries and dissidents." Dulles compared the sophistication of Russian agents-provocateurs with the characters of Dostoevsky.

The main Russian provocateur is called Yevno Azef - at the same time a police agent and the leader of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. It is not without reason that he is considered the organizer of the murders of the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and the Minister of Internal Affairs of Plehve. Azef was the highest paid secret agent in the empire, receiving 1,000 rubles. per month.

A very successful provocateur was Lenin's "ally" Roman Malinovsky. The secret police agent regularly helped the police find the whereabouts of clandestine printing houses, reported secret meetings and conspiratorial meetings, but Lenin still did not want to believe in his comrade's betrayal. In the end, with the assistance of the police, Malinovsky won his election to the State Duma, moreover, as a member of the Bolshevik faction.

Strange inaction

Events were associated with the activities of the secret police, which left an ambiguous opinion about themselves. One of them was the assassination of Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin. On September 1, 1911, at the Kiev Opera House, an anarchist and secret informant of the secret police, Dmitry Bogrov, mortally wounded Stolypin with two point-blank shots without any hindrance. Moreover, at that moment there was neither Nicholas II nor members of the royal family, who, according to the plan of events, were to be with the minister.
.

On the fact of the murder, the head of the Palace Guard, Alexander Spiridovich, and the head of the Kiev security department, Nikolai Kulyabko, were brought to the investigation. However, on behalf of Nicholas II, the investigation was unexpectedly terminated.
Some researchers, in particular Vladimir Zhukhrai, believe that Spiridovich and Kulyabko were directly involved in the murder of Stolypin. A lot of facts indicate this. First of all, the suspiciously easily experienced secret police officers believed in Bogrov's legend about a certain Socialist-Revolutionary who was going to kill Stolypin, and moreover, they allowed him to enter the theater building with a weapon to allegedly expose the alleged killer.

Zhukhrai claims that Spiridovich and Kulyabko not only knew that Bogrov was going to shoot at Stolypin, but also contributed to this in every possible way. Stolypin, apparently, guessed that a conspiracy was brewing against him. Shortly before the murder, he dropped the following phrase: "I will be killed and the members of the guard will kill me."

Security service abroad

In 1883, a foreign secret police was created in Paris to monitor Russian émigré revolutionaries. And there was who to keep an eye on: these were the leaders of Narodnaya Volya, Lev Tikhomirov and Marina Polonskaya, and the publicist Pyotr Lavrov, and the anarchist Pyotr Kropotkin. It is interesting that the agents included not only visitors from Russia, but also civilian Frenchmen.

From 1884 to 1902, the foreign secret police was headed by Pyotr Rachkovsky - these are the years of the heyday of its activities. In particular, under Rachkovsky, agents destroyed a large Narodnaya Volya printing house in Switzerland. But Rachkovsky was also involved in suspicious connections - he was accused of collaborating with the French government.

When the director of the Plehve Police Department received a report about Rachkovsky's dubious contacts, he immediately sent General Silvestrov to Paris to check the activities of the head of the foreign secret police. Silvestrov was killed, and soon the agent who reported on Rachkovsky was found dead.

Moreover, Rachkovsky was suspected of involvement in the murder of Plehve himself. Despite the compromising materials, high patrons from the entourage of Nicholas II were able to ensure the immunity of the secret agent.